Round balers generally have a bale forming chamber defined by an apron comprising an array of side-by-side belts, transverse slats trained on chains, a plurality of rolls or a combination of these various elements, e.g., rolls and belts. During field operation, crop material such as hay is picked up from the ground as the baler traverses the field and is fed into a fixed or adjustable diameter chamber where it is rolled up to form a compact cylindrical bale. The formed bale is wrapped in its compacted form while still inside the bale forming chamber by net, twine or the like, prior to ejecting the bale from the chamber onto the ground for subsequent handling.
Round balers of the general type mentioned above comprising a chamber defined (at least partly) by a plurality of side-by-side longitudinally extending belts supported on a plurality of transverse rollers, frequently utilize belts of a predetermined length with the opposing ends secured together to form a continuous band. The ends are spliced together by using known techniques, one of the most common of which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,371,580, issued on Feb. 1, 1983. This technique, designated as "Prior Art" and shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings, includes the use of a rod 2 threaded through first and second series of loops extending from the opposing ends of the belt 3. The ends of rod 2 are bent to hold it in place and thereby permit the splice to retain belt 3 in its continuous band configuration.
Another known technique is disclosed in Publication No. LIT 1217 issued by the Clipper Belt Company of Grand Rapids Mich., wherein a similar arrangement is contemplated. This technique, illustrated in FIGS. 3-5, employs a clip fastener 4 (FIG. 3) positioned as shown in FIG. 4 and crimped to the rod in a conventional manner as shown in FIG. 5.
Although prior art round baler belt splice arrangements have met with varying degrees of success, no solution exists that goes to the root of the problem, i.e., the need to provide a simple and inexpensive splice that enhances the life of the continuous round baler belt and thereby reduce down time which in turn results in an improvement in overall reliability of the machine.